The Widow of Pale Harbor is a spooky Gothic romance for Fall

Hester Fox’s The Widow of Pale Harbor is a flawed Gothic horror tale whose detailed atmosphere will put you right in the mood for spooky season.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s September, which means it’s officially ~spooky season~ and therefore time for all the sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, and creepy stories you can stand. And if you’re looking for a solid story full of mystery and murder, with a little romance on top, pick up a copy of Hester Fox’s second novel, The Widow of Pale Harbor.

The story follows the story of Gabriel Stone, a minister who moves to Pale Harbor, Massachusetts in the mid-1800s, hoping to outrun his grief over his wife’s death. But strange things – dead animals, strange symbols and unexplained deaths – are appearing all over Pale Harbor, and many of the townspeople blame a local widow, Sophronia Carver, for them all. According to them, she’s a witch and a murderer, and Gabriel is warned to stay away from her or risk his life and soul.

Sophronia, it turns out, is a recluse who rarely leaves her creepy mansion at the hill on top of town. But her relationship with her husband was a lot more complicated than anyone was aware of, as are the reasons behind her self-imposed exile. When a strange series of murders based on Edgar Allen Poe stories begin around the town, Gabriel and Sophronia team up to clear her name and discover who’s responsible.

The Widow of Pale Harbor is atmospheric and compelling, a perfect story for chilly nights and blankets by the fireplace. The premise of a variety of crimes inspired by Poe stories is intriguing, and the cast of supporting characters is interesting and varied, helping to bring the 18th century setting to life. The slowly growing romance between our two leads is well done, though it is often hampered by traditionally Gothic trappings, such as a dead wife, societal censure, and many, many secrets. Along with a couple of death threats and a meddling, flirtatious neighbor.

The POV of the novel shifts repeatedly between Gabriel and Sophronia, sometimes without warning – which, quite frankly can feel a little lazy and confusing at points. (Personally, I think the story would have faired better with alternating chapters, rather than changing perspectives every other paragraph at several points.)

Gabriel, as leading men go, is kind of a mess. He’s a Transcendalist minister, but he doesn’t necessarily believe in any of the tenants he’s meant to be espousing, and he moved to Pale Harbor to try and force him to become the sort of man his dead wife always wanted him to be. Any of us who have ever read a self-help book already know this, but that’s not exactly the perfect recipe for personal happiness. He means well, however, and his curiosity about the strange woman who lives in Carver Castle mirrors our own.

However, I do question whether Sophronia truly needed to be a POV character at all. While she’s immensely likable as a heroine – smart, capable, and brave when she has to be – the fact that we hear her voice so soon in the story undoes a lot of the novel’s initial tension. After all, we find out pretty quickly that Sophronia is not a witch, or an occultist, or even particularly cruel to her servants. There’s something appealing about the mystery of this character, at least as explained in the series’ synopsis, that’s lost as soon as we hear her voice. Suddenly, the other residents of Pale Harbor just become superstitious boors, rather than scared and anxious people living in the shadows of the witch panic in nearby Salem.

If you enjoyed Fox’s first effort, an equally spooky tale entitled The Witch of Willow Hall, you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. The mood and atmosphere are top notch, and some of the twists along the way are pretty surprising.

The Widow of Pale Harbor is available now.